بَلِ الَّذينَ كَفَروا في عِزَّةٍ وَشِقاقٍ

Yet the faithless dwell in conceit and defiance.

EXEGESIS

ʿIzzah (conceit) comes from ʿizz, which originally means hard ground, and is used to describe a person that cannot be overcome. Hence, someone who is ʿazīz is one who overpowers and is not overpowered by anyone. Thus, we read, and he overcame (ʿazzanī) me in speech (verse 23). As such, ʿizzah can be a good quality or a bad quality, depending on how it is used and the context. The hypocrites and the faithless thought themselves to have this quality: They say: ‘When we return to the city, the mighty will surely expel the abased from it.’ Yet all might belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and the faithful (63:8). This is because true ʿizzah belongs to God and to those whom God grants it, because that is the everlasting might. Those who seek it from elsewhere are fooling themselves, They have taken gods besides Allah that they may be a [source of] might (ʿizz) to them (19:81).^{‎[1]Raghib, p. 563.} Hence the translation conceit, as the might that the faithless have, is simply based on a fanciful opinion of themselves. It is in essence pride and the refusal to accept the truth.^{‎[2]Tabrisi, 8/726.} It should be noted that this conceit is very dangerous as it is the key that opens the door into other sins, as we are warned that the one who gives into pride and vainglory, eventually conceit seizes him sinfully (2:206).

Shiqāq (defiance) comes from shaqq, meaning a crack, fault, or split in something, as in, Then We split the earth into fissures (shaqqā) (80:26).^{‎[3]Raghib, p. 459.} It is used for enmity and division, in the sense that it is as if one places themselves on one side of the split and their enemy on the other side, refusing to come close to them or seeing their point of view.^{‎[4]Razi, 26/366.} Here it means that the faithless have placed themselves in opposition to the Prophet.^{‎[5]Tibyan, 8/542.}

The translation dwell is simply added to emphasise that this is indeed the state of the faithless.

EXPOSITION

The surah begins with describing some of the reasons why people denied the message of Islam that the Prophet brought. Specifically, the faithless being described here are the faithless of Mecca.^{‎[6]Tabrisi, 8/726.} We are told that the primary and foundational reason for them denying it is not because they saw fault with the dhikr, the message, or the Messenger, but rather at the core of their denial were two factors. First and foremost was their misplaced pride in themselves and their overinflated sense of self-worth, their conceit. This resulted in them denying the truth that came to them, so they placed themselves in opposition to it, drawing a line between them and the Messenger. As it often happens, when such lines are drawn, people become entrenched in their views, and any attempt at rational discussion turns to debate, and any engagement with them puts them on the defensive. This is the defiance. It is a type of obstinate spite, whereby one is not willing to accept anything the other person does or says. The faithless Meccans were stuck exactly in this type of mentality, whereby it did not matter what the Messenger of God called them to, they would summarily reject it simply because it had come from him.

This is an unfortunate behavioural phenomenon, where groupthink makes people unable to listen to reason, and makes false notions become deep-rooted realities: When the faithless nourished bigotry in their hearts, the bigotry of pagan ignorance (48:26). We see the same bigotry being used today by the conceitful to turn people against each other, in effect to control them and direct them towards their own goals. This idea is revisited more explicitly in verses 6 and 7.

The theme of obstinacy and spitefulness is also a recurring theme throughout the surah, being repeated in the stories of Prophet David (a) and Prophet Solomon (a), and again in the end when discussing the story of Iblīs, who was the ultimate manifestation of this quality, willing to see himself burn in hell in order to spite humankind.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!^{‎[7]Isaiah 5:21.}
2. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.^{‎[8]Proverbs 26:16.}
3. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.^{‎[9]Romans 1:22-23.}

[1] Raghib, p. 563.
[2] Tabrisi, 8/726.
[3] Raghib, p. 459.
[4] Razi, 26/366.
[5] Tibyan, 8/542.
[6] Tabrisi, 8/726.
[7] Isaiah 5:21.
[8] Proverbs 26:16.
[9] Romans 1:22-23.